Russian
- PhD
- MPhil
Overview
The Department of Russian has an outstanding record of research. We pride ourselves on our strong, active research culture, and the research interests of staff span a broad range of disciplinary emphases.
We can support postgraduate research in many areas within the following broad fields:
- Russian and Russophone literature from the 18th century to the present;
- Russian intellectual history from the 19th century to the 20th century;
- Russian and Soviet film and visual culture;
- Soviet history;
- Stalinist culture and the Stalin cult
- British-Soviet wartime relations (1941-45);
- Literary and cultural theory;
- Issues of cultural identity (semiotics of space, perceptions of time and of modernity);
- Transnational and decolonial approaches;
- Urban studies;
- Russian Orthodox theology and culture;
- Gender and sexuality in Russian literature and culture;
- Translation studies;
- Media studies;
- Medicine and the body in literature and visual culture;
- Late-19th and early-20th-century Czech literature and visual culture
Recent and ongoing projects by our postgraduates include:
- The history of Soviet translation theory;
- Translatorial visibility and agency in the post-editing process through the lens of feminist translation studies;
- Contested feminisms in Soviet, Post-Soviet and contemporary Russian translations of Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath, 1976-2010;
- The corporeality of mourning in post-Soviet women's prose;
- Blood and the body in the Bolshevik utopian project
Our postgraduates are a key part of the research community and are integrated into the research activities of the Department, the School of Modern Languages and the faculty.
Programme structure
MPhil: a standalone, one-year (full-time) research degree. Students will undertake their own research project, concluding in the submission of a 25,000-word dissertation. Students may have the option to audit units from our taught master's programmes if they are relevant to their research.
PhD: a research project undertaken across four years (full-time, minimum period of study three years), culminating in an 80,000-word thesis. As well as having the option to audit taught units, there may be the potential for PhD students to teach units themselves from their second year of study onwards.
The MPhil and PhD are available via distance learning.
Entry requirements
MPhil: An upper second-class degree (or international equivalent). Please note, acceptance will also depend on evidence of your readiness to pursue a research degree.
MPhil/PhD: A master's qualification, or be working towards a master's qualification, or international equivalent. Applicants without a master's qualification may be considered on an exceptional basis provided they hold a first-class undergraduate degree (or international equivalent). Applicants with a non-traditional background may be considered provided they can demonstrate substantial equivalent and relevant experience that has prepared them to undertake their proposed course of study.
See international equivalent qualifications on the International Office website.
Read the programme admissions statement for important information on entry requirements, the application process and supporting documents required.
If English is not your first language, you will need to reach the requirements outlined in our profile level C.
Further information about English language requirements and profile levels.
Fees and funding
- Home: full-time
- £5,106 per year
- Home: part-time
- £2,553 per year
- Overseas: full-time
- £21,900 per year
Fees are subject to an annual review. For programmes that last longer than one year, please budget for up to an 8% increase in fees each year.
More about tuition fees, living costs and financial support.
Alumni discount
University of Bristol students and graduates can benefit from a 25% reduction in tuition fees for postgraduate study. Check your eligibility for an alumni discount.
Funding and scholarships
For information on funding opportunities, including University-funded studentships, please see the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences funding pages.
Further information on funding for prospective UK and international postgraduate students.
Career prospects
A large number of graduates from this programme develop careers in higher education or work on high-level research projects in the field of Russian; some graduates take up careers in translating and interpreting.
Meet our supervisors
The following list shows potential supervisors for this programme. Visit their profiles for details of their research and expertise.
Research groups
Research staff in Russian studies have been involved in the following initiatives at Bristol:
- The Bristol Poetry Institute.
- The Gender Research Centre and Gender Interdisciplinary Group, which promote research into gender issues across the University.
- The Screen Research Group, which is an interdisciplinary group of academics across the University working on film, television, and digital media.
Contact us
- Contact
Postgraduate Admissions
- Phone
- +44 (0)
117 428 2296
artf-pgadmissions@bristol.ac.uk
- Contact
Ruth Coates
Ruth.Coates@bristol.ac.uk
- Faculties
- Departments